Pen



Patented Oct. 6, 1942 rnN g William Frederick Mittendorf, New York, N.Y., and Max JosepLStumbock', South Orange,

N. J., ass'ignors to Baker & Company, Inc., New- I ark, N. J.,{corporation of New Jersey No Drawing;

Application November 29, 1940, Serial No. 367,770

'8 Claims. (01. 120-109) This invention relates to pens and is concernedin particular with pen nibs.

Pens, such as pens for fountain pens, consist of a pen nib ofgold'alloy, for instance 14 carat gold alloy, to the pointed end ofwhich there is secured a pen tip of hard metal which serves as thewriting point of the pen. The pen normally tip usually contains at leastone metal of the. platinum group of metals, such as osmium, ru-.

thenium, or iridium, 'withor without the addition ofother metals such astungsten, cobalt, molybdenum or the like. The pen tip may -be preformedto have a regular shape and be of regular size, for instance in the formof a small sphere,

and is secured to the pointed end of the pen nib by means of electricresistance welding or the like.

Our invention consists in constructing pen nibs of gold alloyscontaining up to 15% manganese,

which alloys may further contain up to 15% palladium. The gold alloyspreferably have a gold content of from 29% to 85%, whereby the alloyscomprise gold alloys of from 7- to carat value, and will contain atleast 0.5% manganese but preferably not in excess of 10% manganese and,if palladium is added, at least 1% palladium. The alloys may otherwisecontain the usual connot necessary in order to raise the resistivity itdoes add to such increase as shown by the fact that the replacement ofequal amounts of copper and silver in the above alloy by 5% palladiumraises the resistivity from'81 to 94, so that a ma stituents of goldalloys, such asup to copper, up to 40% silver, and nickel, cadmium, etc.Specifically, our invention provides pen nibs of 10to' 14 carat goldalloys containing 1% to 5% manganese with or without 1% to 5% palladuim,which alloys mayadvantageously contain appreciable amounts of copper andsilver preferably in substantially equal amounts.

In the welding of tips to pen nibs the nib and tip are brought incontact whereupon an electric current flows throughthe nib and the tip"resulting in melting of the metal of the nib. The

molten nib metal flows around part of the tip to form, on @illing, afirm and secure grip, whereby the tip and nib are welded together. It.has been found that the weld is not always completely satisfactory whenthe nib comprises a gold alloy and the tip comprises metal which atelevated temperatures is highly volatile, such as osmium, iridium orruthenium. The nib metal, of course, has a melting point considerablybelow that of the tip metal and when the electric current flows throughthe tip and nib the greatest amount of heat is developed in the tip fromwhere it is transferred to the nib causing the latter to melt ashereinbefore described.

The addition of manganese or of manganese and palladium tends to raisethe electric resistance of the gold'alloys whereby such gold alloyshaving a higher electric resistance are especiallysuitable fortheconstruction of pen m'bs. With pen nibs according to our invention itis, there:v

fore, possible to obtain a considerably better electric weld with pentips even when the latter contain appreciable quantities ofhighly-volatile com-J 1 ponents, in that the electric current produces;more heat than heretofore in the pen nib itself wherefore the pen nibtends to melt without the necessity of heat transfer from the tip or atleast with considerably less heat transfer from the tip,

with the result that it is no longer necessary to produce as much heatin the pen tip as had been a necessary heretofore. A.- gold alloycontaining about 58% gold, 20% copper and 20% silver for instance has aresistivity of 81 ohms. The replacement in this alloy of equal parts ofsilver and copper by about 3% manganese and 4.5% palladium raises thereels;

tivity to 158. Although the palladium itself is of gold alloy containingup to 15% palladium has certainadvantages even without the additionalpresence of manganese.

In welding a pen nib accordingtoourinvention to a pen tip the pentipdoes not heat up as much as it would with an ordinary g'old alloy pennib and thus the highly volatile metal is subjected less tovolatilization. Volatilization is undesirable in that it causesoxidation in the welding area thusresulting in a poor bond between thenib and the tip, and in that it affects the carefully selected andbalanced metallurgical structure of the tip. The elimination of suchdisadvantages results; therefore, in a better bond in that the bondbetween nib and tip is more secure and the structure of the tip is lessaffected. 1

The metallurgical structure of the gold alloys containing manganese issuch that pen nibs manufactured therefrom are strong and springy.

Furthermore, there is no danger of deleteriously I changing thecrystalline structure of the nib during the heating accompanying thesecuring of the tip to the nib, irrespective of whether such securing iscarried out by resistance welding or any other type of welding or bysoldering, wherebysuch alloys are capable of withstanding without damagethe higher temperature to which they are subjected during the weldingprocess as the result of the higher electric resistance thereincludingof and oi withstanding more easily any accidental overheating.

We have further found that pens oi the gold alloys hereinabove specifiedare harder, can' be age-hardened more readily and have much bettertarnish resistance than comparable gold alloys without the presence ofmanganese or manganese and palladium, thus providing tarnish andcorrosion. resistant pen nibs of great strength combined withspringiness. I

Our invention, therefore, makes available a gold pen nib of anovelcomposition not heretofore known which has great tarnish andcorrosion resistance, possesses permits electric resistance welding ofhard metal points such points which contain as" an integral component ametal or metals which. are highly volatile at elevated temperatures insuch manner that overheating of such pen points is eliminated whereby itbecomes possible to obtain in all cases a secure. and excellent bondbetween nib and'tip by spontaneous fusion of nib metal on passing of anelectriccurrent through contacting nib and tip without Iusionoi' the tipand without overheating or either nib ortip.

After thetip has been secured tothe nib the tip and the pointedend ofthe nib are slit and the-pen is finished in accordance with usualpractice.

What we claim is: I g 1. A pen nib of gold alloy containing'up tofifteen (15) per. cent oi a metal taken from the group comprisingmanganese and palladium.

2. A pen nib or gold alloy containing up to ten (10) per cent manganese.I

3. A pen nib oi goidalloy containing up to fitteen (15) per centmanganese and up to fifteen (15) percent palladium.

great hardness and the welding thereto for instance by715 alloycontaining from three (3) per cent to five 'taining from one (1) percentto five 1 cent manganese and five (5)] per cent palladium.

4. A' pen-nib of a 7 to 20 carat gold alloy containing from one-mums)per cent to ten (10) per cent manganese and from one (1) per cent tofifteen (15) per cent palladium.

5. A pen niboi a 10 to 14 carat gold alloy con- (5) per from three (3)per cent to 1.6. A pen' nib of an approximately 15 carat gold (5) percent manganese.

7. A pen nib of an approximately 15 carat gold alloy containing fromthree (3) per cent to five (5) per cent manganese and from three (3) percent to five (5) per cent'palladium.

8. A writing pen consisting of a pen nib of a "I to-20 carat gold-alloycontaining from one-half (0.5) per centto ten (10) per cent manganeseand from one (1) to fifteen (15) per cent palladium, and a pen tip'oihard metal composition.

said nib and. tip being slit, whereby a writing pen is obtained.

